October 25, 2020

Birthday cupcakes for tacos + trivia: churros + baileys dark chocolate + vanilla marscapone

Back when we lived in Seattle, for my sister’s birthday she hosted a Tacos & Trivia party. Her talented husband took care of the taco bar so we brought dessert, and of course because it was a birthday dinner I got a bit carried away and made 2 desserts in one: churros + cupcakes!

Although churros are technically Spanish donuts I got away with fitting them into this theme.  Speaking of donuts, the best donuts I’ve ever had are in Seattle at Lola.  They’re also featured as Giada’s “best thing I ever ate” on food network!  They are lightly sugared bite sized donuts with vanilla bean mascarpone dip and rhubarb jam.  I LOVE them although I never eat donuts otherwise.  So I decided to try and create donuts as tasty as Lola in churro shape with vanilla bean cupcakes.

As always I tried to make do with current cooking utensils and opted not to buy the suggested Kitchen aid stand mixer and paddle attachment or the dutch oven to fry the churros.  Perhaps the cooking would have been easier with them but I think you can get by without them.

Step 1: complete churros recpie

Add egg yolks (save the whites for the cupcakes), sugar, flour, salt, and milk. This dough will be very sticky. Allow to rest a few hours.
After the dough rises it is light and fluffy- ready to be shaped.
I used a “cheese straw” shape to try and get bite sized churro shapes. They got a little too puffy and I preferred braiding long strings together (scroll down to see).
The messy work station! After frying the bites about 1 minute per side I drained the oil and coated cinnamon/ sugar mixture.
Beautiful churros ready as a topping for the cupcake!

Step 2: complete any cupcake recipe, I used a very vanilla recipe from one of my favorite bloggers. See here: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/very-vanilla-cupcakes/.

Very vanilla cupcake batter

Step 3: complete frosting recipes. I opted for 1 dark chocolate + baileys and 1 vanilla topping.

Dark chocolate cocoa powder
+ baileys (yum!)

Step 4: Assemble these beauties!

I love making special birthday cupcakes!
These cupcakes are extra special for an extra special birthday girl

Recipe index

Churros

Ingredients: 

  • 3 tablespoons of active dry yeast
  • 2 tablespoons hot water
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4  cup 2% milk
  • 1/2 stick unsalted butter
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • A pinch of salt
  • Vegetable Oil (2 inches high in pan)
  • Sugar and cinnamon to roll donuts

Instructions: 

  •  Mix yeast and warm water together a large bowl.  
  • Mix in flour, yolks, sugar, butter, and salt.  
  • Let the dough rest for a few hours so it doubles in size.  Cover with a towel.  
  • Roll out dough and cut out shapes.  
  • Drop dough into oil over medium high heat.  
  • Let donuts drip out oil over a rack.  
  • Roll in sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Dark Chocolate Bailey’s Frosting

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup Baileys
  • 2 cups dark cocoa powder
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

  • Mix together all ingredients.

Mascarpone Vanilla Bean Frosting

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup mascarpone
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

  • Whip cream until peaks develop, mix in all other ingredients.
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